They are not new updates as such, just a change of date.

So ......... updates then

Anybody else remember life before television? Conversation, games, storytelling, singing, dancing, playing with the children, sewing, knitting, woodcarving, arts and crafts and so on. In other words, a real life of our own, not a vicarious one prepackaged and served up piecemeal to provide huge profits for the producers. Find real things to do - you will be surprised how little you miss that noisy box in the corner. A friend I worked with would not allow television in her house. Her children are now two of the most imaginative and creative adults I know.

bbc and itv are on "astra 2" satellites at 28.5 degrees east of south
http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html


bbc world is on "astra 1" satellites at 19.2 degrees east of south....
http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html

In case onyone is being fooled into whacking out great sums of money on a large dish system as a cure for all their problems-pause and think again.I have a 2.4 dish which I am told is properly aligned, but cannot receive many of the basic channels. i.e BBC2/3/4,Ch4 etc.Even when I was paying Sky from a UK bank ( a Sky requirement), a lot of their channels were missing.Yes, I know that I am in a poor reception area
This forced me to suscribe to Telmicro.
We have not heard the last of the rebroadcasting saga-not by any means and my advice is sit tight and wait-if you can. There are already some signs of movement.

Elf

A good honest installer (me!?) will always say that not all channels are available 24/7 and go through the limitaitons of BBC2,3,4 and now C4. Even with a 2.4m dish in my area some channels will drop out (the north beam channels like UKTV +1's, Sky Sports extra, SS News, Hallmark, some S Movies to name a few)...

The movement will be no UK terrestrial or pay channels, and just those that they do have contract to rebroadcast - see the list i posted a few days ago...

Its sounds like a good time to open a dvd hire shop.

Hi, a newbie here.

I have read most, if not all of the posts about Telmicro Levante and their recent problems. Before any more damage is done to other 're-broadcasters', I will try to put the record straight. These are just my opinions but to be fair, I should add that I do work in the business of supplying English language TV to British Expats on the Costa Blanca and Costa Calida.
1. The reason that Telmicro Levante was closed down by the Spanish authorities had nothing at all to do with the channels they were transmitting. Nobody, not even the English language free press is allowed to comment on the real reason because it is 'secreto'.

2. It is not illegal to re-broadcast english language 'free to air channels' in Spain. I have heard people ask why they should pay for 'free to air' channels? Their point of view is appreciated, but a re-broadcaster is able to provide the service at a reasonable cost directly into their homes without the need for a very large and expensive satellite dish. Look at it this way: We are all able to grow our own oranges, but most of us prefer to let the farmer do the hard work, so that we can buy them from him. We pay more for the oranges than the Farmer does, so he makes a profit so that he can carry on making more and better oranges. This is of course what a re-broadcaster or anybody else that is in business does.

3. In my view, the mid-term future of English language TV here in Spain is for customers to either invest in a large 2.4 meter dish and relevant digibox to get Sky Freesat or BBC /ITV Freesat. Although, as I have read on this forum these systems are not 100 % reliable according to the time of day, but then again, re-broadcasters have their problems too. Or shop around for a re-broadcasted package. I understand that new transmitters are coming on-line as I type.

4. The bottom line is as usual, cost. If you want to pay between 500 and 1000 euros and no monthly fee, (for free channels), and you have the space, get a big dish. If you don't, use a reputable re-broadcaster. They are out there! Trouble is. I can't say who they are!

Hope this helps.

Letsbenice.

Hi and welcome,
Agreed with 1 that no one knows the official reason for the temporary closedown, as nothing has been offically released, but all evidence suggests that it was down to the rebroadcsating of channels that they did not have contracts and permission to rebroadcast.

It is illegal if you do not have the correct contract and permissions from the channels you are rebroadcasting....it applies to free and pay tv channels, and covered by international copyright law.

and if they could why do they not start again now...instead of some foreign versions of MGM, Cinestar, XTRM Film Channel, Sci-Fi, Calle 13, Fox, National Geographic - it should be easy enough for them to realign a dish and retune a receiver for bbc. i think many of their clients would like to see the free to air channels instead of these.

like the rebroadcaster that is installing satellite dishes, instead of mesh dishes, to make the clients think that they are receiving the signals from a satellite and not their rebroadcast mast...

rememeber - if you pay for bbc it is not from the "official" satellite...as on satellite with a dish BBC is free...

is there such a thing...???

Thanks, Letsbenice, for the honest and fresh approach and the "insider" point of view. Whilst I sympathise with those who feel they have been ripped off, as the full reasons for the shutdown and the legal outcome are not yet known, conjecture really does not help and only serves to exacerbate the feelings of helplessness amongst those affected.

I have to say that Sat & PC Guy is an informed source, and has almost always been accurate and helpful in what he has said on here

Sounds like Letsbenice is just as much an inside source as Sat & PC Guy from what he said

Hi, and thanks for the welcome.

I agree that the evidence provided in the English language press points to re-broadcast issues, but, (in my opinion), that is not the case. The truth will come out in the fullness of time, but suffice it to say that other re-broadcasters have not been closed down and they are showing very similar channels.

What does concern me however, is that the 'authorities' recklessly removed transmission equipment from various locations which stopped our expats from receiving any TV at all. Ammunition, I would guess for anyone in the (Spain don't want us here), camp.

As far as I am aware, the company in question held the necessary documentation to provide their services.

Letsbenice

tm do have correct documentation to use certain frequencies for rebroadcast and to retransmit certain channels (like calle13).

it is what other things they have put on these frequencies that they will not have any documentation / contracts for the BBC,ITV, SKY etc part of the service, as reported almost everywhere (CBN last few weeks). therefore these channels have been removed until such contract can be arranged. however i am sure that the renumeration TM will have to pay bbc for such a contract would be astronomical and therefore not worth while.

Hi again,
Regarding the BBC they will never give permission for a company in Spain to re-broadcast their programmes because they are not receiving any licence fees from here. Imagine what an uproar there would be from UK viewers. Clearly, big dish customers would have the same concerns.

ITV do not transmit here, but they are aware that our English speakers still see the adverts, and still can buy many of the products that are shown. My guess is that ITV would be, (quietly), happy with the situation.

The point is that Sky, BBC, ITV and many independent television providers use Spanish airspace to send their signals to Britain. If they use Spanish airspace, companies based over here will use it. This applies to re-transmission companies and smaller businesses using big dishes to collect the signal.

Letsbenice.

in reality, it is down to the programme makers and who they sell their programme to, and what area those rights cover.

if sky sports were to be made available in spain, when premiership football came on, sky would have to show something else, as TVE have spanish premiership rights. same with ITV and football rights, and movies rights, and other american series rights....

"Regarding the BBC they will never give permission for a company in Spain to re-broadcast their programmes because they are not receiving any licence fees from here" - and thats whey they should pay for a contract to rebroadcast....but dont pay for a contract, and therefore dont have permission to rebroadcast.
the bbc do have a deal in switzerland (and holland i think) for a bbc1 service on their cable service - and pay fortune for it - but i think many sports and movies are blocked and alernative programming is made available...

and think of it the other way a round...
there are two ways to restrict viewing of satellite channels - one is via a card that is only available in a certain country, the other is to put the channel on a weak "spot" beam.
if TVE2 and Teledeporte were available on satelite for free (they are part of the canal+ package and you need a card to view them) then setanta would loose out - as i am sure many people/ bars in the UK would buy a small 80-cm dish and cheap FTA receiver to watch the football for free and not pay setantas monthly subscription (and use radio 5 for commentary!). ideed, one of the italian national stations is free on hotbird, but when certain sports and movies are on they are encrypted...